HumanitiesWeb.org - History of Friedrich II of Prussia - Frederick the Great (Chapter V. - Friedrich Pushes Forward Towards Brieg and Neisse.) by Thomas Carlyle
History of Friedrich II of Prussia - Frederick the Great Chapter V. - Friedrich Pushes Forward Towards Brieg and Neisse.
by Thomas Carlyle
Ohlau is a pleasant little Town, two marches southeast of Breslau;
with the Ohlau River on one side, and the Oder on the other;
capable of some defence, were there a garrison. Brieg the important
Fortress, still on the Oder, is some fifteen miles beyond Ohlau;
after which, bending straight south and quitting Oder, Neisse the
still more important may be thirty miles:--from Breslau to Neisse,
by this route (which is BOW, not STRING), sixty-five or seventy
miles. One of my Topographers yields this Note, if readers care
for it:--
"Ohlau River, an insignificant drab-colored stream, rises well
south of Breslau, about Strehlen; makes, at first, direct eastward
towards the Oder; and then, when almost close upon it, breaks off
to north, and saunters along, irregularly parallel to Oder, for
twenty miles farther, before it can fall fairly in. To this
circumstance both Breslau and a Town of Ohlau owe their existence;
Towns, both of them, 'between the waters,' and otherwise well
seated; Ohlau sheltering itself in the attempted outfall of its
little river; Breslau clustering itself about the actual outfall:
both very defensible places in the old rude time, and good for
trade in all times. Both Oder and Ohlau Rivers have split and
spread themselves into islands and deltas a good deal, at their
place of meeting; and even have changed their courses, and cut out
new channels for themselves, in the sandy country; making a very
intricate watery network of a site for Breslau: and indeed the
Ohlau River here, for centuries back, has been compelled into wide
meanderings, mere filling of rampart-ditches, so that it issues
quite obscurely, and in an artificial engineered condition,
at Breslau."
Ohlau had been expected to make some defence; General Browne having
thrown 300 men into it, and done what he could for the works.
And Ohlau did at first threaten to make some; but thought better of
it overnight, and in effect made none; but was got (morning of
January 9th) on the common terms, by merely marching up to it in
minatory posture. "Prisoners of War, if you make resistance;
Free Withdrawal [Liberty to march away, arms shouldered, and not
serve against us for a year], if you have made none:" this is the
common course, where there are Austrian Soldiers at all; the course
where none are, and only a few Syndics sit, with their Town-Key
laid on the table, a prey to the stronger hand, we have
already seen.
From Ohlau, proper Detachment, under General Kleist, is pushed
forward to summon Brieg; Jeetz from the other side of the river
(whom we saw crossing at Breslau the other day, interrupting his
Majesty's dinner) is to co-operate with Kleist in that enterprise,
--were the Country once cleared on his, Jeetz's, east side of Oder;
especially were Namslau once had, a small Town and Castle over
there, which commands the Polish and Hungarian road. Friedrich's
hopes are buoyant; Schwerin is swiftly rolling forward to
rightward, nothing resisting him; Detachment is gone from Schwerin,
over the Hills, to Glatz (the GRAFSCHAFT, or County Glatz, an
Appendage to Schlesien), under excellent guidance; under guidance,
namely, of Colonel Camas, who has just come home from his Parisian
Embassy, and got launched among the wintry mountains, on a new
operation,--which, however, proves of non-effect for the present.
[ Helden-Geschichte, i. 678; Orlich,
Geschichte der beiden Schlesischen Kriege, i. 49.]
Indeed, it is observable that southward of Breslau, the dispute,
what dispute there can be, properly begins; and that General Browne
is there, and shows himself a shining man in this difficult
position. It must be owned, no General could have made his small
means go farther. Effective garrisons, 1,600 each, put into Brieg
and Neisse; works repaired, magazines collected, there and
elsewhere; the rest of his poor 7,000 thriftily sprinkled about, in
what good posts there are, and "capable of being got together in
six hours:" a superior soldier, this Browne, though with a very bad
task; and seems to have inspired everybody with something of his
own temper. So that there is marching, detaching, miscellaneous
difficulty for Friedrich in this quarter, more than had been
expected. If the fate of Brieg and Neisse be inevitable, Browne
does wonders to delay it.
Of the Prussian marches in these parts, recorded by intricate
Dryasdust, there was no point so notable to me as this unrecorded
one: the Stone Pillar which, I see, the Kleist Detachment was sure
to find, just now, on the march from Ohlau to Brieg; last portion
of that march, between the village of Briesen and Brieg. The Oder,
flowing on your left hand, is hereabouts agreeably clothed with
woods: the country, originally a swamp, has been drained, and given
to the plough, in an agreeable manner; and there is an excellent
road paved with solid whinstone,--quarried in Strehlen, twenty
miles away, among the Hills to the right yonder, as you may guess;
--road very visible to the Prussian soldier, though he does not ask
where quarried. These beautiful improvements, beautiful humanities,
--were done by whom? "Done in 1584," say the records, by "George
the Pious;" Duke of Liegnitz, Brieg and Wohlau; 156 years ago.
"Pious" his contemporaries called this George;--he was son of the
ERBVERBRUDERUNG Duke, who is so important to us; he was
grandfather's grandfather of the last Duke of all; after whom it
was we that should have got these fine Territories; they should all
have fallen to the Great Elector, had not the Austrian strong hand
provided otherwise. George did these plantations, recoveries to the
plough; made this perennial whinstone road across the swamps; upon
which, notable to the roughest Prussian (being "twelve feet high by
eight feet square"), rises a Hewn Mass with this Inscription on
it,--not of the name or date of George; but of a thought of his,
which is not without a pious beauty to me:--
Straverunt alii nobis, nos Posteritati;
Omnibus at Christus stravit ad asra viam.
Others have made roads for us; we make them for still others:
Christ made a road to the stars for us all.
[Zollner, Briefe uber Schlesien, i. 175;
Hubner, i. t. 101.]
I know not how many Brandenburgers of General Kleist's Detachment,
or whether any, read this Stone; but they do all rustle past it
there, claiming the Heritage of this Pious George; and their mute
dim interview with him, in this manner, is a thing slightly more
memorable than orders of the day, at this date.
It was on the 11th, two days after Ohlau, that General Kleist
summoned Brieg; and Brieg answered resolutely, No. There is a
garrison of 1,600 here, and a proper magazine: nothing for it but
to "mask" Brieg too; Kleist on this side the River, Jeetz on that,
--had Jeetz once done with Namslau, which he has not by any means.
Namslau's answer was likewise stiffly in the negative; and Jeetz
cannot do Namslau, at least not the Castle, all at once; having no
siege-cannon. Seeing such stiffness everywhere, Friedrich writes to
Glogau, to the Young Dessauer, "Siege-artillery hither! Swift, by
the Oder; you don't need it where you are!" and wishes it were
arrived, for behoof of Neisse and these stiff humors.
FRIEDRICH COMES ACROSS TO OTTMACHAU; SITS THERE, IN SURVEY OF
NEISSE, TILL HIS CANNON COME.
The Prussians met with serious resistance, for the first time (9th
January, same day when Ohlau yielded), at a place called Ottmachau;
a considerable little Town and Castle on the Neisse River, not far
west of Neisse Town, almost at the very south of Silesia. It lay on
the route of Schwerin's Column; long distances ahead of Liegnitz,
--say, by straight highway a hundred miles;--during which, to right
and to left, there had been nothing but submission hitherto.
No resistance was expected here either, for there was not hope in
any; only that Browne had been here; industrious to create delay
till Neisse were got fully ready. He is, by every means, girding up
the loins of Neisse for a tight defence; has put 1,600 men into it,
with proper stores for them, with a resolute skilful Captain at the
top of them: assiduous Browne had been at Ottmachau, as the outpost
of Neisse, a day or two before; and, they say, had admonished them
"Not to yield on any terms, for he would certainly come to their
relief." Which doubtless he would have done, had it been in his
power; but how, except by miracle, could it be? On the 9th of
January, when Schwerin comes up, Browne is again waiting
hereabouts. Again in defensive posture, but without force to
undertake anything; stands on the Southern Uplands, with Bohmen and
Mahren and the Giant Mountains at his back;--stands, so to speak,
defensive at his own House-door, in this manner; and will have,
after SEEING Ottmachau's fate and Neisse's, to duck in with a slam!
At any rate, he had left these Towns in the above firm humor,
screwed to the sticking-place; and had then galloped else-whither
to screw and prepare.
And so the Ottmachau Austrians, "260 picked grenadiers" (400
dragoons there also at first were, who, after flourishing about on
the outskirts as if for fighting, rode away), fire "DESPERAT," says
my intricate friend; [ Helden-Geschichte, i. 672-677;
Orlich, i. 50.] entirely refusing terms from Schwerin; kill twelve
of his people (Major de Rege, distinguished Engineer Major, one of
them): so that Schwerin has to bring petards upon them, four cannon
upon them; and burst in their Town Gate, almost their Castle Gate,
and pretty much their Castle itself;--wasting three days of his
time upon this paltry matter. Upon which they do signify a
willingness for "Free Withdrawal." "No, IHR HERREN" answers,
Schwerin; "not now; after such mad explosion. His Majesty will have
to settle it." Majesty, who is by this time not far off, comes over
to Ottmachau (January 12th); gives words of rebuke, rebuke not very
inexorable; and admits them Prisoners of War. "The officers were
sent to Custrin, common men to Berlin;" the usual arrangement in
such case. Ottmachau Town belongs to the Right Reverend von
Sinzendorf, Bishop of Breslau, and Primate; whose especial Palace
is in Neisse; though he "commonly sends his refractory Priests to
do their penance in the Schloss at Ottmachau here,"--and, I should
say, had better himself make terms, and come out hitherward, under
present aspects.
Friedrich continues at Ottmachau; head-quarters there thenceforth,
till he see Neisse settled. On the morrow, 13th) he learns that the
Siege Artillery is at Grotkau; well forward towards Neisse;
halfway between Brieg and it. Same day, Colonel Camas returns to
him out of Glatz; five of his men lost; and reports That Browne has
had the roads torn up, that Glatz is mere ice and obstruction, and
that nothing can be made of it at this season. Good news
alternating with not so good.
The truth is, Friedrich has got no Strong Place in Schlesien;
all strengths make unexpected defence; paltry little Namslan itself
cannot be quite taken, Castle cannot, till Jeetz gets his siege-
artillery,--which does not come along so fast as that to Neisse
does. Here is an Excerpt from my Dryasdust, exact though abridged,
concerning Jeetz:--
"JANUARY 24th, 1741. Prussians, masters of the Town for a couple of
weeks back, have got into the Church at Namslau, into the Cloister;
are preparing plank floors for batteries, cutting loop-holes;
diligent as possible,--siege-guns now at last just coming.
The Castle fires fiercely on them, makes furious sallies, steals
six of our oxen,--makes insolent gestures from the walls; at least
one soldier does, this day. 'Sir, may I give that fellow a shot?'
asks the Prussian sentry. 'Do, then,' answers his Major: 'too
insolent that one!' And the sentry explodes on him; brings him
plunging down, head foremost (HERUNTER PURZELTE); the too insolent
mortal, silent enough thenceforth." [ Helden-Geschichte,
i. 703.]--Jeetz did get his cannon, though not till
now, this very day I think; and then, in a couple of days more,
Jeetz finished off Namslau ("officers to Custrin, Common men to
Berlin"); and thereupon blockades the Eastern side of Brieg,
joining hands with Kleist on the Western: whereby Brieg, like
Glogau, is completely masked,--till the season mend.
Friedrich, now that his artillery is come, expects no difficulty
with Neisse. A "paltry hamlet (BICOQUE)" he playfully calls it;
and, except this, Silesia is now his. Neisse got (which would be
the desirable thing), or put under "mask" as Glogau is, and as
Brieg is being, Austria possesses not an inch of land within these
borders. Here are some Epistolary snatches; still in the light
style, not to say the flimsy and uplifted; but worth giving, so
transparent are they; off hand, like words we had heard his Majesty
SPEAK, in his high mood:--
KING TO M. JORDAN, AT BERLIN (two successive Letters).
1. "OTTMACHAU, 14th JANUARY, 1741 [second day after our arrival
there]. My dear Monsieur Jordan, my sweet Monsieur Jordan, my quiet
Monsieur Jordan, my good, my benign, my pacific, my humanest
Monsieur Jordan,--I announce to Thy Serenity the conquest of
Silesia; I warn thee of the bombardment of Neisse [just getting
ready], and I prepare thee for still more important projects;
and instruct thee of the happiest successes that the womb of
Fortune ever bore.
"This ought to suffice thee. Be my Cicero as to the justice of my
cause, and I will be thy Caesar as to the execution. Adieu: thou
knowest whether I am not, with the most cordial regard, thy
faithful friend.--F."
2. "OTTMACHAU, 17th JANUARY, 1741. I have the honor to inform your
Humanity that we are christianly preparing to bombard Neisse;
and that if the place will not surrender of good-will, needs must
that it be beaten to powder (NECESSITE SERA DE L'ABIMER). For the
rest, our affairs go the best in the world; and soon thou wilt hear
nothing more of us. For in ten days it will all be over; and I
shall have the pleasure of seeing you and hearing you, in about
a fortnight.
"I have seen neither my Brother [August Wilhelm, not long ago at
Strasburg with us, and betrothed since then] nor Keyserling:
I left them at Breslau, not to expose them to the dangers of war.
They perhaps will be a little angry; but what can I do?--The rather
as, on this occasion, one cannot share in the glory, unless one is
a mortar!
"Adieu, M. le Conseiller [Poor's-RATH, so styled]. Go and amuse
yourself with Horace, study Pausanias, and be gay over Anacreon.
As to me, who for amusement have nothing but merlons, fascines and
gabions, [Merlons are mounds of earth placed behind the solid or
blind parts of the parapet (that is, between the embrasures) of a
Fortification; fascines are bundles of brushwood for filling up a
ditch; gabions, baskets filled with earth to be ranged in defence
till you get trenches dug.] I pray God to grant me soon a
pleasanter and peacefuler occupation, and you health, satisfaction
and whatever your heart desires.--F." [ OEuvres de
Frederic, xvii. 84.]
KING FRIEDRICH TO M. LE COMTE ALGAROTTI (gone on a journey).
"OTTMACHAU, 17th JANUARY, 1741 [same day as the above to Jordan].
I have begun to settle the Figure of Prussia: the outline will not
be altogether regular; for the whole of Silesia is taken, except
one miserable hamlet (BICOQUE), which perhaps I shall have to keep
blockaded till next spring.
"Up to this time, the whole conquest has cost only Twenty Men, and
Two Officers, one of whom is the poor De Rege, whom you have seen
at Berlin,"--De Rege, Engineer Major, killed here at Ottmachau, in
Schwerin's late tussle.
"You are greatly wanting to me here. So soon as you have talked
that business over, write to me about it. [What is the business?
Whither is the dusky Swan of Padua gone?] In all these three
hundred miles I have found no human creature comparable to the Swan
of Padua. I would willingly give ten cubic leagues of ground for a
genius similar to yours. But I perceive I was about entreating you
to return fast, and join me again,--while you are not yet arrived
where your errand was. Make haste to arrive, then; to execute your
commission, and fly back to me. I wish you had a Fortunatus Hat;
it is the only thing defective in your outfit.
"Adieu, dear Swan of Padua: think, I pray you, sometimes of those
who are getting themselves cut in slices [ECHINER, chined] for the
sake of glory here, and above all do not forget your friends who
think a thousand times of you. "FREDERIC."
[ OEuvres de Frederic, xviii. 28.]
The object of the dear Swan's journey, or even the whereabouts of
it, cannot be discovered without difficulty; and is not much worth
discovering. "Gone to Turin," we at last make out, "with secret
commissions:" [Denina, La Prusse Litteraire
(Berlin, 1790), i. 198. A poor vague Book; only worth consulting in
case of extremity.] desirable to sound the Sardinian Majesty a
little, who is Doorkeeper of the Alps, between France and Austria,
and opens to the best bidder? No great things of a meaning in this
mission, we can guess, or Algarotti had not gone upon it,--though
he is handy, at least, for keeping it unnoticed by the Gazetteer
species. Nor was the Swan successful, it would seem; the more the
pity for our Swan! However, he comes back safe; attends Friedrich
in Silesia; and in the course of next month readers will see him,
if any reader wished it.
